Hallelujah Here Below
Hello Everyone!
I know I’ve been gone for a long while - life has gotten kinda crazy and keeping up with a posting schedule for this site was put on the back burner. However, I’m back for the moment and wanted to share something that’s on my heart, as well as give y’all an idea of when I will be back to posting normally.
But, first thing’s first, what is on my heart at the moment. So, this past Sunday was Easter Sunday. Easter has always been my favorite of the Christian Church holidays, primarily because without it all the others really are not that important. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Christmas is fantastic; but without the Cross, the cradle means very little. Also, I’ve always loved how my church celebrates Easter. In normal times, we have spontaneous baptisms and it’s just the absolute best celebration of Resurrection Day.
The other reason I’ve always loved Easter is because I love how my family celebrates it. We don’t simply do brunch; we have a full on family gathering akin to our Christmas celebration, just take away the presents and add in nicer weather.
Although this year’s Easter definitely looked different - my church’s services were modified to accommodate restrictions and we couldn’t have our usual family gathering - one thing did not change: Easter is and always has been about Jesus. He is RISEN! And because of that fact all of my inadequacies and failures are irrelevant because I have turned my life over to him.
And that is where the point of this post comes in: for a lot of my life, I’ve intellectually known that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross has covered all of my sins, past, present, future. But, that fact hasn’t always completely sunk into my heart. And what I mean by that is not that I took Jesus’ sacrifice flippantly and did whatever I wanted thinking, “the cross covered it, I will ask for forgiveness later.” No, it’s more like I was (and am) overwhelmed by the sacrifice Jesus made and could not grasp how little old me is lovable enough to be the recipient of such a sacrifice. I’ve struggled for years with the fear that after falling into sinful habits or struggling to maintain a path of righteousness, there will be a time where God’s had enough. In my mind, there would eventually be an instance that breaks the camel’s back and my salvation is stripped away. And regardless of how false I know this is intellectually, it never made the lie any less believable to my heart.
However, more recently my heart has refused to believe the lies. Telling myself truth, spending consistent time in the Bible and in prayer has brought my weary heart to a place of truth and peace. And the song linked and referenced in the title of this post has largely been a part of this revelation. Y’all we are so incredibly loved by God, our offerings of praise and cries of worship are the sweetest music to his ears. Isn’t that amazing? Little old us, with our selfish ways and sinful flesh; our praise to him is something God cherishes. And even though I genuinely know that this is a truth learned through experience and time and hard heart work, I want to encourage you in the truth that you are never too far gone or removed from God where he doesn’t want to hear from you. He always wants to hear your praise and worship. It doesn’t matter your struggles, God knows them all and he knows your heart, so let your heart and soul truly rest in Christ. We will never see a world in which we aren’t tempted, we don’t slip up, we don’t make mistakes, we don’t live in perfect righteousness, etc. this side of eternity. But, thankfully, God doesn’t expect us to; just lay your life down at the foot of the Cross and follow Jesus. He will be with you every step of the way and never let you go.
Don’t spend your life constantly waiting for a shoe that doesn’t exist to drop. You are really that loved and nothing can ever change that.
“Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different ...”
Alright, if you’ve read the first part of the post, then you’ve reached the point in our program where I’m going to give you a little heads up about what is going on with this website. First of all, after this post I won’t be back on here until May. I’m in the midst of my final class for my master’s program and I want to put all my focus on that (and my job, obviously). After I’m finished with my master’s program - meaning I graduate and have my Master’s Degree!! - I will be back to a regular posting schedule. What that will look like? I’m not entirely sure. But, I do know y’all will be hearing from me a lot more frequently than every couple months.
The next bit of news is that I want to add a couple more topics to this blog, the primary one being Disney-related content. I adore Disney. I love Disney World, I love the movies, pretty much everything. I have a lot of knowledge regarding the WDW Resort, so I would be happy to provide some (unsolicited) advice for how to navigate all things Disney World. But, I also just love reading other people’s opinions and rankings of Disney movies and whatnot. So, I may start doing some of that here…we shall see.
If there is anything you would like to hear more about from me, please leave a comment on this post or DM me on Instagram (see the footer of this page or the “About” page for that link). I’d be happy to talk about more things that y’all want to read about. I have lots of opinions and knowledge on a variety of things, but I often need others’ input to focus my thoughts.
Anyway, with that all being said, I will see you all in May when I have a Master’s Degree in hand!
Blessings,
Sarah
